Realization and Regret
by JuliaBC
Summary: Diego receives disturbing news, and finds himself wishing he'd done things differently with Senorita Montes.


It was an afternoon. Diego was pacing the study, a glass of wine in hand. He had just finished reading the mail; there had been a letter for him. Alejandro came into the study, worry on his face. "Are you alright, Diego?" He asked anxiously. "Bernardo says you've been in here for an hour, just pacing the floor. We've been waiting for you to come out."

"I got a letter. It had news of...from my past. You remember Magdalena Montes? Of course you do. Who could forget? Certainly not me."

Alejandro started. "Indeed, who could? Why did you change your feelings towards Magdalena so abruptly, then, if she was so...memorable?" Alejandro asked, his sharp eyes piercing Diego.

"She was an agent of the Eagle, that is why." Diego said.

"An agent…" Alejandro's voice trails off.

"Si. I first suspected when we were out riding that first afternoon and she startled at the mention of Mendoza."

"Mendoza?"

"The man shot with an arrow in the pueblo, you remember?"

"I suppose I do. What does that have to do with Magdalena?"

"There was an eagle feather on the arrow. When Garcia mentioned Magdalena had been on the same coach, and boat, as Mendoza, I decided to test something. Obviously the Magistrado had ordered him killed but why? I had been puzzling over that. So I mentioned, on a whim, Mendoza's name, then that he was dead. Magdalena seemed very shaken at the news and immediately suggested we go home." Diego was pacing, and waving his arms.

"Well, this was no proof, but then at the party I watched her closely when she spoke with the Magistrado. She gave him a feather." Diego inhaled. "I took the feather from him and clipped it into the death signal I had seen on Mendoza's feather. But it did not signal the Magistrado's death, which I learned when I gave it back to him. It signalled Magdalena's. I saw his henchman go after her and pursued them as Zorro. I saved her but Francisco was shot, a mere flesh wound in his arm. I tended to him then turned to Magdalena. I spoke harsh words." He struggled to keep speaking.

"She seemed very ashamed of her actions, but hurt at how callous I was. I...she asked me then why I hadn't just let him kill her. I said something then that I still regret now, that I would be a long time explaining it to myself. Such hurt I had never seen in a woman's eyes but I hardened my heart and left. The funny thing is, I was angrier in that moment than I have ever been in my life. I think it was because I was already so attached to her…" his tone got softer, more contemplative.

"It crushed me to find she was an agent, but by the time I reached bed, I was regretting my words, especially after I realized that Mendoza's death couldn't have been her fault. She was so shocked when she heard the news, why did I blame her?" He threw up his hands, having shouted the last words.

"She hadn't seen the Magistrado yet!" He punched the table with his fist. "Yes, she was involved but so was Raquel Toledano and I was never harsh with her! Magdalena had regretted her deeds long before she arrived in Los Angeles and met me. She just couldn't leave the brood safely...Oh, dios. I had meant to visit them the next day, to patch things over as best I could, but they were already gone." He sighed.

"Looking back now, I realize that never before had I loved someone so deeply in such a short time, and thus my sharp words. Love mixed with hatred. Never before had my heart broken as when I saw the feather…never such fear had I felt as when I saw her coach pursued by the Magistrado's henchman. And now…" Diego swallowed.

"Seven months ago I began sending inquiries as to their situation and current location. Today I received word that Magdalena was killed the moment she returned to Mexico City, both she and her father, slaughtered." His voice rose from his almost inaudible tone to a shout. "I could have protected her! I beat Galindo! But no! I had to send Magdalena straight back to Mexico City, heart of the Eagle's brood, and she was killed on the spot! I will never forgive myself for letting the Montes' to return to Mexico City and causing their deaths, however indirectly! It is my fault."

"I do not think that is true." Alejandro said slowly.

"No, it was my fault." Diego muttered.

"No, I mean, Francisco and I have been corresponding these past six months. They still live."

"Dios!" Diego was dumbstruck. "I—is there really still hope? Where are they?"

"He never said."

"Then it is still impossible. I could search for years and never find her! There is still no hope!"

"Things are never hopeless, Diego." Alejandro's voice was soft. Diego merely shook his head and turned to face the wall. Alejandro walked to the study door and opened it.

"This is better seen than explained." Alejandro said as he left the study.

"What do you mean—" Diego asked in confusion, turning around. His words died in his throat.

Magdalena stood in the doorway in a deep purple gown, as beautiful as he remembered, a hesitant smile on her face.

Diego merely looked at her in disbelief as she descended into the study, walking towards him slowly. "Dios. Is it really you?" Diego asked in wonderment, reaching out to her. When his hands touched her arms he let out a cry of pure joy. "Magdalena!" He gasped, grabbing her by the waist and twirling her in the air above him. "Magdalena, Magdalena!"

"Oh, Diego, Diego!" She cried back to him, both laughing with joy. He set her down and his eyes got darker as he glanced towards the study door, which was thankfully closed.

"This time we will not be interrupted!" He said huskily, drawing her to him and kissing her deeply. Her arms went to his shoulders immediately, clutching at him for balance as his hands tightened on her waist.

Inside the secret passage, Alejandro, Francisco and Bernardo took turns looking through the peephole, all muffling joyful laughter. When the kiss took a decidedly more passionate turn, however, they pulled away and walked back through the secret passage to the sala. "We should stop them." Alejandro said and the other two men nodded. None of them moved to the study door, however.

"Well, I should…" A few minutes later, Francisco finally started to the door just as it burst open. Diego and Magdalena emerged, both looking a tad disheveled. Diego's arm was tight around Magdalena's waist and he seemed to have no intentions of removing it. Ever.

"I see the wedding should be soon, eh, Diego?" Alejandro said knowingly.

"Si, father," he said simply, and turned back to his love. His eyes were shining, as were hers. "You will marry me, won't you?"

"Si." She said. She leaned closer and Diego's gaze turned smoky again; he leaned to kiss her. He remembered they had an audience, though, and he straightened back up.

Magdalena didn't let it stop her. "Excuse us a moment." She said, leading Diego back into the study, and shutting the door.

Alejandro and Francisco burst out laughing, shaking each other's hands and pounding each other on the back. Diego's head poked from the study.

"Tomorrow isn't too soon, is it?"

A/N: Maybe it's because I'm prejudiced and like Magdalena best, but I always thought Francisco and Alejandro were closer, friends, not just two fathers trying to match their children. I see them as knowing each, liking each other before the Montes' went to Mexico City, and then just not seeing him very much because when Francisco returned, he was ill, and presumably did not take visitors. "I thought he was ill, he never goes anywhere." Also, it may seem that Diego is talking too much when you first read it, but it makes sense the second time you read it, because he just learned of her 'death'. I had a hard time naming it, and figuring out a synopsis, cause if I said too much, her entrance would be no surprise. Maybe it wasn't anyway.

More chronologically, I meant this to tie in with a different fanfic I'm writing about Magdalena, but then couldn't find a way to connect the two, so this turned out to be just a standalone, and I decided to just put it up now, to avoid confusion. I hope you liked it. Also, I put this after the show ended. It took Diego awhile to finally send inquiries after Magdalena. This would be about 1823.


End file.
